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Ann Maguire murder: The two other teachers Will Cornick planned to murder

One of his targets was pregnant Sinead Miley as he wanted to kill baby

Lizzie Dearden
Wednesday 05 November 2014 10:36 GMT
Will Cornick murdered teacher Ann Maguire when he was 15
Will Cornick murdered teacher Ann Maguire when he was 15 (West Yorkshire Police)

The two other teachers Will Cornick planned to kill after murdering Ann Maguire have been named as Sinead Miley and Andrew Kellett.

He had graphically described how he wanted to stab Mrs Miley, who was then pregnant, in the stomach “so as to kill her unborn child”, Leeds Crown Court heard.

She has since had a baby girl and is understood to be on maternity leave.

Cornick was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 20 years on Monday, with the judge saying he may never be released.

The 16-year-old’s motive for targeting Mrs Miley and Mr Kellett, his head of year at Corpus Christi Catholic College, was unclear.

He later told doctors: “I said I was going to do other stuff but I never got the chance, other murders. It was a triple homicide.”

Cornick said killing Mrs Maguire “was always on his mind” since Year 8, adding that he could not see himself passing his exams and was refused from the Army because of his diabetes.

The court had been told he held an “irrational” and deep-seated hatred for the languages teacher, who had once banned him from a school bowling trip after he failed to do his Spanish homework. He went anyway and was excluded for one day as punishment.

In Facebook messages, dating back months before he stabbed Mrs Maguire to death in April, he had described his murder fantasies.

Two months before the murder, one Facebook message shown to the court said: “The one absolute f****** b**** that deserves more than death, more than pain and more than anything that we can understand.”

On the morning of the attack, Cornick told other pupils he was going to stab Mrs Maguire, even showing them the knives he was carrying along with a bottle of Jack Daniels “to celebrate”.

The gates to Corpus Christi Catholic College, where Anne Maguire was stabbed (Getty)

Paul Greaney, a lawyer for the prosecution, told the court he “winked” at a fellow student before entering her classroom and one witness said there was no expression on his face as he stabbed Mrs Maguire.

“I decided on Sunday it was going to be a knife. I thought I was just going to go to school and wait for her lesson and do it,” Cornick told a psychiatrist.

"I wanted to get caught. That's why I did it in school. I wanted to be in jail."

Witnesses reported that he seemed “pleased” after the brutal attack, describing it as “good times”, and he told a psychiatrist it made him “happy”.

“I had a sense of pride. I still do,” Cornick said according to lawyers. “It's kill or be killed. I did not have a choice. It was kill her or suicide.”

When asked about the impact on Mrs Maguire's family he said he “couldn't give a s***” and thought everything he did was “fine and dandy”.

Outlining the psychiatric reports, Mr Greaney said the boy was "currently highly dangerous and has psychopathic elements to his personality".

An inquiry has been launched into the circumstances surrounding the murder of Mrs Maguire.

The Leeds Safeguarding Children Board said it will now investigate the incident with the school and other agencies.

Additional reporting by PA

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